Monday, October 13, 2014

The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie IIIPublished August 1, 2013 by Sunstone Press4 Ritualistic Stars"A tale so gripping it will have any Zealot daring enough to read questioning their very beliefs."

Synopsis -

A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, "The Unholy" is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision.

PAUL DeBLASSIE III, PhD, is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico. A member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, he has for over thirty years treated survivors of the dark side of religion. (Goodreads)

Review -

While this book is not exactly for everyone, more of a love or hate it, I loved it. Fans of neo-Gothic tales, as well as fans of real history mixed in with fantasy, are sure to enjoy this read. The Unholy is a novel that describes in gruesome detail just how people are willing to go in the name of religion. Where people are more cultists than merely church-goers, believing with their entirety that as long as they are acting in the name of God, what they are doing is right, including murder.

Claire Sanchez is the last of her line of medicine women. Having witnessed her mother's brutal murder at the tender age of five, she is less than willing to pick up the staff and take her place. As always with fate, she will eventually learn that she has no choice. Though it will take a trail of bodies to convince of this. Turns out the past isn't something that can always be buried.

The town know as Ecclesia Dei would give even the Manson Family a run for their money. Convinced beyond a shadow of doubt the pathway to Heaven lies upon the backside of Archbishop Anarch. The wealthy have learned to give him his tithe no matter what exorbitant amount it may be. For to not do so would lead their souls to eternal damnation, after an untimely death. The less fortunate give whatever asked of them, and do as they are told, or they may also suffer the same fate. With followers worshiping him, and the hand of who he believes is God upon his shoulder, Anarch thinks he is above reproach, even a sin is not a sin if he is the one committing it. But there is one person who stands in his way and plans on crushing her like an ant.

Ritualistic killings, cultists to the extreme, zealots at their worst and only a handful of people willing to stand up to them. Though I wish there had been more Paranormal at work; more powers shown and explored by the Medicine women, The Unholy was truly a great read. Showing how the most self-righteous are usually the biggest sinners of all.